# The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus and Vegetables

When I was an undergraduate, someone presented to me a proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus using entirely vegetables. I found this incredibly fun at the time, but I can't remember who presented it to me and my internet searching has not been successful.

The proof involved pinning various vegetables to a board and using their locations as variable names. I hope to find a reference for this -- obviously it's a bit of a longshot.

I was at the University of Michigan and it probably happened around 2004. But I have no reason to believe it was invented at that location or that time.

• What a title! I thought this was going to be about "eating one's vegetables"…i.e. having to see a proof as a typical Calculus student. – Jon Bannon Sep 19 '14 at 11:27
• Are you sure it wasn't original? I may try to do a robust search for it... in 30s I tracked down a column in a similar spirit: opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/it-slices-it-dices (Steven Strogatz: "From this perspective, the lasting legacy of integral calculus is a Veg-O-Matic view of the universe.") – Benjamin Dickman Sep 22 '14 at 5:54
• @BenjaminDickman Ha, no -- I mean literally vegetables, tacked to a board. It may have been original from whoever showed it to us. – Chris Cunningham Sep 22 '14 at 18:34
• In what way this particular explanation of the fundamental theorem of calculus is important? Does it allow to grasp certain concepts better than other explanations? Are vegetables essential for the explanation, or were used just for fun? How the explanation will change if vegetables are replaced with other objects? I am surprised this question got so many upvotes. – Rusty Core Apr 29 at 17:48
• @FedericoPoloni I found the person I was looking for (5 years later) and hope to have a video to share later this summer. I don't remember the details. – Chris Cunningham May 31 at 20:40

$$\int_{carrot}^{potato}vegetable(turnip)d(turnip)$$ $$=stew(potato)-stew(carrot)$$ where $$stew'=vegetable$$